Humor in Persuasion :)

Everyone is familiar with the sense of joy and empowerment the ability to make people smile or even laugh out loud has. Well, there is much more to humor than this. The power of humor extends farther when used for persuasive purposes. It can make goods, products, and services sell. It generates money. Studies has shown that humor when used correctly in conjunction with persuasion messages are able to change attitudes, if not behavior itself. Two articles entitled, " The effectiveness of humor in persuasion: The case of business ethics training" and " The joint impact of humor and argument strength in a print advertising context: A case for weaker arguments" by Jim Lyttle (2001) and Cline & Kellaris (1999) respectively, discusses the relation of humor as it relays to persuasion. This article seeks to explore how humor can be a beneficial and powerful with the use of these these two articles mentioned above.
Effectiveness of Humor
In understanding the effectiveness of humor in persuasion, it would be necessary to review the elaboration likelihood model. This theory explains that messages are processed either through central or peripheral means depending on the receivers level of involvement. If one is thoroughly involved in a message and is knowledgeable in its topic, then messages are processed analytically and deeply through central processing. Argument considered compelling will sway the receiver. Peripheral route processing, on the other hand, occurs when there is a lack of self motivated interest or knowledge. Here, short cuts are taken in reaching conclusions. Factors such as source expertise, likeability, attractiveness and similarity play a role in these short cuts (Seiter & Gass, 2004). It is this author's opinion, as supported by an article by Jim Lyttle (2001), that humor is a convenient tool to use to equalize the playing field as it gets audiences to automatically rely on heuristic, peripheral processing.
It is only natural that humor in itself is effective in elevating an atmosphere or as they say putting people in a good mood. When one is placed in a good mood, then one is less likely to feel argumentative. It can then be said that one will be less likely to disagree. Adding to this heuristic processing is the fact that when one finds another funny, one can automatically conclude a shared sense of humor. This may also imply a shared sense of values (Lyttle, 2001). In education in particular, humor in text books are proven to relax students increasing the effectiveness in a message. Lyttle (2001) explains humor is known to be effective particularly in advertising and education (para 3).
The Risks of Humor
Incorporating humor in persuasion messages seem like a guarantee to persuasion success, yet according to Cline & Kellaris' (1999) findings in research, humor has the ability to backfire. They explain that humor in conjunction with the message's argument strength needs to be consider in order to be effective. Specifically, weak arguments always proves to work well with humor and are proven to be more effective when paired with it. Strong arguments, one the other hand, may work well with or without humor. As humor has the ability to disrupt central processing, attention is shifted from the message to the humor itself. This forces the receiver to use peripheral processing encouraging certain short cuts to be made and concluded. . As previously mentioned, heuristic processing of humor may lead receivers to believe that types shared sense of humor and even values exists increasing likability. Cline & Kellaris' (1999) also seem to indicate that humor is bi-functional. That is, as it forces peripheral route processing, it may also may encourage central processing depending on how related the humor is to the message. This basically happens when the humor reinforces the message forcing receivers to think and understand it in a deeper level.
Furthermore, when working with humor in persuasive messages, appropriateness also needs to be considered. For example, it would be considered inappropriate and even offensive if one used humor to advertise high risk goods such as medical insurance or funeral services. If one was promoting something of least importance such as gum or candy bars, low risk convenience goods, then humor would be appropriate and fully accepted. This is because medical insurance and funeral services are serious and can significantly impact quality of life; gum and candy bars do not.
Conclusions
Advertisers and marketers have long used humor as a tool in selling products and generating profits. It increases attention, likability, attractiveness. It also elevates the receiver's mood. All these have proven to encourage message processing via peripheral / heuristic means. Yet, it also theorized that central processing may also occur when humor becomes integral to the understanding the message.
Certain risks are also associated with using humor for persuasion purposes. These namely are: ( 1.) argument strength and (2.) level of risks. It has been determined that weak arguments always benefit from humor and generally not beneficial in strong arguments. The exception, of course, occurs when the humor makes receivers think and digest the message better. Other factors also needs to be considered when using humor in persuasive messages. That is the level of appropriateness and risk. Low risks products and goods such as gum and candy become more effective with humor and high risk products and goods fair better without.


References


Seiter, J.E. & Gass, R.H. (2004). Perspectives on persuasion, social influence, and
compliance gaining. Boston, Massachusetts: Pearson Education, Inc.
Lyttle, J. (2001). The effectiveness of humor in persuasion: The case of business ethics
training. The Journal of General Psychology, 128 (2), 206-217. Retrieved November 20,
2010, from ABI/INFORM Global. (Document ID: 77223102).
Cline, T.W., & Kellaris, J.J. (1999). The joining impact of humor and argument strength in a
print advertising context: A case for weaker arguments. Psychology & Marketing, 16 (1),
69-87, from ABI/INFORM Global. (Document ID:
37875581).